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Friday, 25 March 2011

Black Forest Cake

I am beginning my blog with my latest trial.I have been trying black forest recipes so that I can have the confidence to make one for my hubby when he signs off from ship.

This is a modified black forest cake as I have used my mom’s chocolate cake for the base .My mom’s chocolate has always been a hit whenever she makes it.

It brings back memories from childhood.My younger brother and I used to be welcomed with smell of this chocolate cake when we returned from school and we used to wait to grab slices of it.When she used to make it during holidays we used to take turns to mix as we mix with a spatula for this cake. An electric beater is not used.Even our doggies used to come and sit under the dining table (which used to be our mixing zone) for their share of the cake mix(leftover in bowls and spoons) and of course the cake too…

So with all these beautiful thoughts of childhood and my doggies(may their souls rest in peace) , I go into the recipe of my amma’s chocolate cake.

Ingredients

For the Cake

1)Maida(all purpose flower)- 1 ½ cups

2)Soda bicarbonate- 1 teaspoon

3)Baking powder-1 teaspoon

4)Butter(soft)-1 cup

5)Sugar- 1 cup

6)Eggs(at room temp) -2

7) Cocoa powder- ½ cup

8)Warm water -1/4 cup

For the sugar syrup

1)Sugar-5 tablespoons

2)Water-1/2 cup

3)Rum( or whiskey or brandy)- 3 tablespoons

For the icing

1)Fresh Cream- 150 ml(whipping cream was used in many recipes I have seen ,but I could not get it so I used fresh cream)

2)Vanilla essence-1teaspoon

3)Rum/Whiskey /Brandy-1 teaspoon(optional)

4)Powdered sugar-4-5 tablespoons(depending on how sweet you want it)

5)Cherries -1 packet

6)Dairy milk chocolate- 1

(if you are going for the small bars would recommend you to buy 2-3).Grate it and also make curls and refrigerate it. For the curls just use a vegetable peeler.

-Fold the maida into this mixture little by little. (please remember ,we DO NOT use an electric beater here).

-Mix the cocoa powder and warm water and add it to the batter slowly .Make sure that the cocoa is evenly distributed throughout and the batter takes a brown colour.

-Pour this batter into a greased and dusted cake tin and bake at 180 C.For dusting the cake tin we can mix maida with a little cocoa(as this is a chocolate cake).

-The cake is ready when a skewer or a toothpick inserted into it comes clean.

I baked it in my mom’s oven(the traditional round oven exclusively for cakes) and so the cake took almost an hour!!But came out perfectly doneJ

Once the cake is ready let it cool down completely.We have to slice it horizontally into 3 equal layers.Please use a serrated long knife(its easier;) ).Pierce holes on all the 3 layers with a fork.

Now we can prepare the sugar syrup .

-Take about 5 tablespoons of sugar and half cup of water in a saucepan.Let the syrup come to a boil ,then keep it on sim and let the syrup change into a golden colour.Please make sure that it does not thicken.

-Remove from stove.

-Add 3 tablespoons rum,whisky or brandy to it.Mix well .Sprinkle this syrup on the three layers.This gives the cake a moist texture.(we pierced holes on the cake so that the syrup seeps in ).

-Spread some chopped cherries on it.Now keep the middle layer and press.Then again spread the cream and the cherries on this layer.Then keep the last layer(many recipes recommend that we keep the bottom most layer of cake on top,but I don’t do it.I keep the layers as was in the original cake).In the last layer,i.e. the top most layer spread a thicker layer of cream.

-Garnish with cherries and chocolates curls.You may also use grated chocolate to decorate the cake.

# The cake is named not directly after the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range in southwestern Germany but rather from the specialty liquor of that region, known as Schwarzwälder Kirsch(wasser) and distilled from tart cherries. This is the ingredient, with its distinctive cherry pit flavor and alcoholic content, that gives the cake a special kick.

Warning

# This cake takes a lot of time and effort.So don’t do it in a hurry!!

i was just going thru your blog and love ur recipes. will surely try them out. i wud like to know where u got fresh cream in dubai as i m unable to get it. even with whipped cream it does not come like in bakeries. i m very new to baking so if u can pls help me out.nuwera

Thank you for stopping by my blog and taking time to read the post.Hope it has been useful to you.Do let me know by leaving a comment below.It will take only a few seconds to leave a comment but the happiness and encouragement it will give me will last long!Thank you.Cheers,Renu